Abstract Background To examine the combined effects of education level and perceived social class on self-rated health and life satisfaction in South Korea. Methods We used data drawn from the 8 to 15th wave of the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS). Using wave 8 at baseline, data included 11,175 individuals. We performed a longitudinal analysis at baseline estimating the prevalence of self-rated health and life satisfaction among individuals by education level (high, middle, and low education level) and perceived social class (high, middle, and low social class). Results For self-rated health, odds ratio (OR) of individuals with low education and low perceived social class was 0.604 times lower (95 % CI: 0.555–0.656) and the OR of individuals with low education and middle perceived social class was 0.853 time lower (95 % CI: 0.790–0.922) when compared to individuals with high education and high perceived social class. For life satisfaction, OR of individuals with low education and low perceived social class was 0.068 times lower (95 % CI: 0.063–0.074) and the OR of individuals with middle education and middle perceived social class was 0.235 time lower (95 % CI: 0.221–0.251) compared to individuals with high education and high perceived social class. Conclusions This study shows that the combined effects of education level and perceived social class associated with self-rated health and life satisfaction. Our study suggests increasing education level and perceived social class. Additionally, it will be important to develop multi-dimensional measurement tools including education level and subjective social class.